Ash's Wall
by PsOhKiEpMpOeNr9
Summary: Ash had never truly known his father. He made assumptions that led him through a dark childhood. When he and a friend revisit this abomination, Ash gets a feeling, longing for his 'wall' to return to him.
1. Chapter 1

**This story is inspired by the greatest Psychedelic Rock band ever, **_**Pink Floyd.**_

Ash's Wall

It was the end of a journey. Ash and friends had gotten so close to Pallet Town. It was just over the hill, then May and Max would get to see his childhood residence. Once he thought about his childhood though, he couldn't remember much about it. The main thing Ash remembered was a lack of a father.

Most psychologists believe in suppressed memories, possibly caused by trauma or just an overall terrible childhood. Ash was one of these children. Little known to anyone but him and his mother, Ash had a fairly bad childhood, starting with daddy leaving not for the tales of a journey like his mother said, but he left to join a fight. A war had actually occurred early in Ash's life, and daddy was K.I.A. His mother never told him this for the fear of his reaction.

All it would take to bring these memories to return is a trigger of some sort. Something that was related to the memories would cause them to flood back. Well, when Ash and friends got over the hill to see into Pallet Town, something triggered there. Ash saw a flash in the corner of his eye from a bush. A helmet, an old ratty one from the war, was sitting in the bottom of the bush. Ash reached into the bush while his friends turned to look at him. He pulled out the helm and Broc gasped. "This is amazing." Ash said as he looked it over in his hands.

His friends gathered around and Max said, "Whoa, Ash look at the name in the helmet." Ash turned it and dropped it on the ground. The name inside the helmet read, 'Private First Class, Ketchum'. May retrieved it and looked it over herself.

A picture was tucked in the inside. She pulled it out, some corners were slightly burned away, and the picture faded. It was a photo a pretty lady with brown hair, holding a happy baby boy, and an almost adult version of Ash. There was also a girl, with blonde hair, green eyes, about half the height of Delia. She tucked it into her pocket, turned to Ash, and said, "We've got to bring this to your mom." They cascaded down the hill into town, and ran all the way home. They got in with Delia just finishing dinner.

"Hello there, I'm almost done, and then we can eat," Delia spoke in a calm voice.

"Mom, we found a helmet just outside of town," Ash said, showing her the helmet.

She looked it over for a while, then said, "It must be from the war. There's a name inside too." She read it, then spoke in a worried tone, "Oh no, oh my. How could this happen?"

"So what really happened to dad?" Ash asked in a purely annoyed tone.

After sitting down, contorting her face into different shapes, and fighting back tears, she managed to choke out,"Well, his squad had come to Kanto, because it was scheduled to return from deployment, but before they could deploy onto the ground," she stopped and held back more tears while leaning her head forward to hide her face, "a RPG slammed into the chopper as it flew over the lab. The whole thing burst into flames and shrapnel. There were no survivors; you were but a child so I lied to you."

"I can't believe it." Ash swallowed hard. "I thought my father was trash, but he was really a hero." He walked off to the living room and sat down. New memories began flowing through. His dark childhood was surfacing. All the forgotten suffering, isolation, and pure misery returned.

May came in and sat on the couch next to him. "I found this in the helmet. Who's the other girl?"

"Oh, I remember her now," Ash said. "She was my babysitter. She would come over whenever my parents went out. She was pretty looking back on her now."

"Well what happened to her?" May asked.

"I might as well share some of this, because I can barely keep track of all the thoughts in my head right now." Ash said. "It's a tragic story. It was a beautiful winter day, and she went out on a nearby lake. The ice on the lake was thin at the time, but no sign was out and she was from Johto, so she didn't know how thin the ice on the river really was. She was skating out on the ice when people gathered around with tear stained eyes. She saw the way people gathered, trying to alert her without stepping on the ice. She wasn't very surprised when a crack in the ice developed under her twirling foot."

"What happened? Did she survive?" May questioned.

"She plunged beneath the cold winter ice, and drowned." Ash struggled out. "That was the first brick in my wall."

"What?" May said, shocked.

"My wall is a metaphorical need for my own future. It also stands for my want for isolation and revenge. To lock that sea of faces outside so I can live in peace. I still remember all those things. Want to hear the story of my wall?"

"Uhh…" May stuttered out.

"Great! I love being able to share my thoughts with you." Ash interrupted. "I don't really feel like I could ever trust other people. Most of my friends wouldn't appreciate what I have to say because it involves most of them."

"Is it not very good things about them?" May asked in pure curiosity.

"That's to put it lightly." Ash said. With Ash in such a strong mood to share something and bring it off his chest, and May filled with the curiosity of what could have held Ash so tightly, Ash began. "It started with the untimely disappearance of my father. There were signs that he was dead. When I was a real young boy, my mother took me to a memorial to commemorate his unit. She was crying, but I thought she just knew someone from that unit."

"Then came a real hint. My mother always told me not to go through her dresser. It was a day after school while mom wasn't home. I got a sandwich and walked up the steps. I passed her room and saw her door open. Curious, I walked in and pulled open the bottom drawer. My father's uniform was in the drawer. I put it on and stepped up to the mirror. I thought I looked good."

"Then, I spotted a letter to mother. It was in the form of a scroll. I unrolled it, seeing black lettering. My eyes grow damp to remember a seal from his military commander embedded on the scroll. It described the scenery and how he supposedly died along with condolences."

"It said, 'It was dark all around, there was frost on the ground, when the tigers broke free.' The tigers were the enemy special forces. 'And no one survived from the Royal Fluthilier Company C. They were all left behind, most of them dead, the rest of them dying.' And that's how the high command, took my daddy, from me. I didn't believe it at first, lived in denial. I thought it was something mom faked so I wouldn't look through her drawer. I also found some ammunition."

May began to speak, saying, "Ash, I starting to regret the decision of the story."

"Then I had a dream," Ash continued. "In it, I was still a baby in a baby carriage. My mother was napping. A Meowth was stalking a Pidgey that was in the yard. The Meowth advanced and the Pidgey flew away. It flew for a few minutes, before exploding, revealing a great, dark bird that began to fly over a black, torched field. It dug its talons into the field, which reacted like flesh, blood flowing from the ground and from the uprooted ground in the bird's talons. It flew close to the ground and shrouded the ground with smoke."

"That's pretty creepy Ash. Please stop." May requested.

"Sorry, but now that I'm into it, now that can really share my feelings and bringing this tragedy off my chest, I don't think I can stop. Anyway, a great beast rose up with its bright white eyes glaring and arms extended out. It morphed again into a large silver building with bombers flying out, followed by explosions. Small creatures with full gas masks crawled for the sewers at the site of the planes and hid out. Then, the bombers all turned to white crosses. A skeleton with an army uniform on, waved goodbye and fell down."

"A British flag was on a stand, until it all collapsed except for the red plus, which bled down the stick. The apparently mechanical bird slammed into ground, rose its head, and burned into remains. The skeleton stood back up and turned into a ghost as others appeared behind him. A dove flew out of the wreckage and past the ghosts, which turned into white crosses as well. They faced the bleeding cross as the blood dribbled into a sewer drain, where the small creatures were waiting."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"A few years later, on a Saturday afternoon, Gary, some other guy, and I walked down a hill to some train tracks. I took a bullet from the box and walked into the tunnel. A train was fixing to arrive and I had to act fast. Gary warned me about the train, but I ignored him and placed a bullet on the tracks. I pressed myself against the wall as the train passed. The bullet went off as the train whizzed by."

"It was a prison train, which I didn't know. I saw a car with hands reaching out pass by. Followed by a voice that said, 'You!' Another train car passed with faces looking at me. Another voice erupted out saying 'Yes, you' I looked over to see an old, balding man with a black suit. "Stand still laddy." He faded away with the smoke. He was just an illusion."

"Um that part was random." May said, truly intrigued with the story now.

"Not really, because that reminded me of the school I used to go to before it was closed down." Ash explained.

"I remember hearing about that as a little girl. Wasn't it closed down due to arson?"

"That's just the cover story." Ash said ominously. "Want to hear that story? You will anyway because it has to do with the wall."

"Ok, I guess." May said.

"When we were kids and went to school, there were certain teachers who would hurt the children in any way they could. By pouring empty vision upon everything we did. They were exposing every weakness however carefully hidden by the kid."

"I remember one incident when I was caught writing during class. He said, 'what have we here laddy, mysterious scribbling, a secret code? Oh, poems no less. Poems everybody, he reckons himself a poet.' He read the current poem which said, 'Money get back, I'm alright Jack, get your hands off my stack. New car, caviar, five-star dream. Maybe I'll buy myself a football team.' 'Absolute rubbish, get back to work,' he said as he slapped the table with a ruler. The whole class cracked up."

Ash was screaming now, "But late in home at night their fat, psychopathic wives would thrash them within inches of their lives."

"What?" May had said in surprise. She put her hands over her mouth, realizing she had interrupted.

"We all knew it deep down that he was controlled by his wife. That's why he tried to control us. Continuing, the school was constantly in complete order. You moved in a straight, perfect line. You all had to sit the same way and always face forward. The maze like halls all had two lines going in two directions, one on each side. A teacher would be in each hallway, commanding you around. If you stepped out of line, you got a lashing. One day, a large group of kids revolted and chanted the lines, 'We don't need no education. We don't need no force control. The dark sarcasm in the class room, teacher leave us kids alone.'"

"The last line meant the children that were still obedient. Their nose was being put to the grind stone with extra punishment and work. They were suffering and those that couldn't keep up were instead given the ultimate punishment: locked away all day, alone in the dark. When we learned of that from a rebel obedient child, the rest revolted."

"We slammed desks, threw papers, broke chairs, and tore the boards off the walls. We broke into the fire equipment center and broke out axes. We chopped up desks and demolished everything. We discovered sledgehammers in a janitor's closet. We brought down walls, smashed out windows, and eventually set the whole place ablaze."

"We gathered a bonfire outside while continuing the chant. Kids took turns throwing rubble and papers into the blaze. While chanting 'the dark sarcasm in the classroom' we pulled the balding teacher that made fun of us the most to the blaze and pushed him in."

"Oh God!" May had said without control. "That's so terrible!"

"Yeah, soon after that, I lost faith in most things, and turned to my mother. I started asking stupid questions, always wondering if she thought others thought one way or another about me. I remember sleeping in her bed when I got scared, and always worried about getting in trouble at school, not because of a beating, but what would mother think of me now? Would she still love me? I walked up to her and asked one day 'Mother, should I build a wall?' I started asking about the impossible, like running for president. I got sick and asked her 'Mother, am I really dying?' She didn't respond and instead walked out of the room."

"One day, she came to me and said 'Hush now baby, don't you cry. Momma's going to make all of your nightmares come true. Momma's going to put all of her fears into you. Momma's going to keep you under her wing. She won't let you fly, but she might let you sing. Momma's going to keep baby cozy and warm. Oh baby, of course momma's going to help build a wall.'"

"I remember the nightmare of having girlfriend's when I was a kid because she was so clingy and worrisome. I asked about my girlfriends often to her, because I didn't want to displease her. The accelerated construction of the wall was choking me out. I asked questions like, 'Mother is she good enough for me?' Or, 'Mother will she tear your little boy apart?' Or even 'Will she break my heart?'"

"Her response was only to get clingier, checking up on me, checking up on the girls I liked, and always keeping me clean and healthy. She told me I would always be her baby. Then, my girlfriend did break my heart, by cheating on me. We were but kids, but she turned her back on me and spread rumors. For a while, we constantly bit at each other with rumors until she completely crushed me. I just wanted to get rid of it all. I started asking questions to myself, _What should I use to fill the empty spaces where waves of hunger belong? How shall we set out across this sea of faces? _I decided to box in my memories and hold them away I began to treat myself with simple things at first, then big things. It really improved my feelings."

"It sounds like things were going up for you now." May implored as Ash stopped to catch his breath.

Ash then stated coldly, "Then, I turned ten."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"What's wrong with turning ten?" May asked. "You've met so many people and Pokémon."

"With my wall, it made it difficult to get the guts and power to win very many badges at first, or to choose good friends. I did meet Broc, but I also met Misty, the most physically violent girl I ever met. I started to lose my sanity. I was combatting the physical trauma from Misty's short temper and mental trauma of my wall attempting to separate us. I started to just tune out Misty and often zone out completely from everything except for maybe Pikachu. Deep down, I still missed that bitch that double crossed me."

"One day I completely snapped on Misty. She had attempted to tell me how wrong I was and punched me in the back of the head. I tore apart everything I could see, before turning on her and slugging her in the gut. We basically fell apart after that. Our relations became a fraud."

"Ash, I'm getting really tired." May said as she checked the clock. "I'm going to bed." She finished as she stood up and walked upstairs.

Ash just sat there, thinking. He sat there alone, for what seemed like hours, never speaking a word. He remembered how easy life was with mom doing everything for him. He suddenly got up, went into the bathroom, shaved all his hair to stubble, and tore out his eyebrows. While he did this, he thought of how safe he had felt. He walked back, closed and locked the door separating the living room from the house, sat down, and soon passed out completely from exhaustion and bleeding from his eyebrows and scalp.

He woke up minutes later, behind a great black wall. He reached at the wall for answers, but found none. He couldn't climb the massive wall. He pounded against it for a long time, before looking up at the top and screaming out, "Is there anybody out there?"

No response. He bent down on his knees and started to cry. "Please, is there anybody who can hear me?"

Meanwhile, in real life, he just sat in a chair, staring at the TV. He flicked through the channels but not doing anything.

In his daydream, he saw through the eyes of him as a child, looking at himself watching TV. Ash thought how pathetic he must look right now. He started to walk off into the distance. He saw the entrance to a trench and walked into it. Inside was a field hospital with a ceiling impossibly high for a trench.

He walked through the place to see his current form in a corner. It turned to him with a crazed, crying face. The young Ash ran off, through the trench to an intersection. He looked to the right and saw the trench filled with the dead. He turned left and walked down the path. Smog flowed around him, blinding his vision. He heard a train whistle as the smoke faded out to show a train station. He remembered the place because came to see the return of some troops from the war.

They piled off in groups and got hugs from family. Ash walked through, watching the fathers returning to children, and it depressed him severely. He continued down the station to the TV set and sat down. In real life, that's when Ash completely passed out, no longer conscious.

May woke up after only a few hours of sleep to the sound of Max's feet slapping on the floor as he ran down the hall. He knocked on everybody's door screaming out, "Someone help! Ash has locked the living room door and isn't responding to my call." She got up immediately and ran down the steps.

Delia said, "Does anybody know how long he's been alone?"

"I was up talking to him till about 1am." May explained. "Then I went to bed for a few hours."

"Ok so he's been in there for about 4 hours." Broc deducted. From there, May and Broc worked on breaking open the door, Max gathered the Pokémon, and Delia called an ambulance. About every five seconds until the ambulance arrived, you could hear a loud _thwack! _of an axe against the door.

May finally managed to whack off the lock so the medics could get into the room. May peered in first before whispering, "Fuck me," She walked up behind the medics as they attempted to wake him with some slaps. He failed to respond to any of them.

Meanwhile, Ash was remembering an act of compassion, one of his first encounters with Pokémon. He had located a sickly Rattata and took it home. He showed it to his mother who freaked out and chased him outside. Ash walked off to a shed and saw some straws. He sat the Rattata and left it there. The next day he returned to the bedding and it had died. So he took it to the nearby river and gave it a Viking's funeral.

The medics continued to work on him and prepare him for the trip. They got a needle with a liquid that would help transport.

Ash dreamed of the day he was sick and asked if he was really dying. It was a few days after making contact with the sick Rattata. Before leaving the room the doctor stuck a needle into his lower forearm.

One of the medics stuck a needle into his arm and squeezed the juice into his veins. After removing the needle, Ash screamed out in his sleep. "Aaaah!" The medics headed back for the ambulance while May and Broc carried him down the hall.

Ash began to regain consciousness and peer around the room. He saw a hazy version of May and Broc pulling him through the house. The bright sunlight swirled through his head as he was placed into an ambulance and wheeled away. However, when he blinked, he was sitting in a car heading for his personal mansion in his dream realm. In this world he was the leader of a group that owned the world. His balcony overlooked the stadium that he would go to later and give a speech.

May saw Ash lift his head off the cot before closing his eyes and conking out again. "Oh Ash," She said. They arrived at the hospital and put him in a room. After diagnostics were ran, it was decided that there was nothing wrong with him that would cause him to pass out like this.

"He must be having a dream in that coma." Delia said. "He has described his dreams to me before. He is the king of his world. If he gets used to that life he won't want to come out. Someone has to go in and convince him to come back. May, you know the most about him besides me regarding this issue, so he would most likely be convinced by you."

"I'll do it to save Ash." May said.

"Be careful though," Delia warned May. "He might enjoy life there, and since he is the leader, having the wrong approach with him might cause him to want to jail, torture you, or worse. His personal right hand men are very unpredictable, so while jailed, they might talk about doing things to you, or do things to you."

"I'll take the risk for him." May said. The doctor wheeled in some experimental machine. It was a terminal with some computer systems hooked up to it. The doctors attached a few nodes onto Ash and mirrored the positions on May. They soon brought in anesthesia and put her under.

May woke up at the end of a dark hall. There was an entrance with an iron gate over it on the right. Directly in front of her was a red gate with a 2x4 blocking it. A single light flickered often until something forced up against the gate. The light then stopped flickering and the gate was forced again. The gate shifted back and forth until the 2x4 grew weak. Then, the gate slammed open followed by an, "Ahhhhhh!" from May.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

May screamed out in terror as the gate was slammed open. Teenagers rushed out at her running at top speed. She jumped up and ran away, just trying to stay ahead of the group of kids. More gates slammed down and more and more kids came rushing in. Some would fall on the ground and be trampled into the concrete. She felt like she was trying to escape a rain of artillery shells, or trying to out run a group of stampeding Taurus.

Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, she managed to lead the group out of the sports arena into a police roadblock. The S.W.A.T. teams mercilessly grabbed and arrested as many people as possible. They tackled them as they kicked at the cops only to receive a nightstick. Most people, including her were given quick, rough pat downs before being thrown into the vans.

The ride to prison was short and quiet. No one spoke, and no one moved. The officers chitchatted amongst themselves before the vehicle grinded to a halt. The doors soon opened and everyone was pulled out. Instead of jail though, we were at some sort of mansion. A balcony stuck out from the building. Two banners, one on either side was covered in black, except for a section in the middle. It was a circle divided into two colors, white on top and red on bottom. Two hammers facing the same direction crisscrossed.

The officers arranged the teens in a perfect order and forced them all to watch the balcony. Then, Ash walked out wearing a black uniform with the same insignia on his forearms. He walked out on the balcony and began to give a speech. "So ya, thought ya, might like to go to the show. To the feel warmth of confusion, that space cadet glow." As Ash stated this all out, the audience watched him intently without blinking. "Tell me is something bothering you sunshine, is this not what you expected to see? If you wanna find out what's behind these cold eyes, you'll just have to claw your way through this disguise." He screamed out. He seemed to draw that last word out a fairly long while.

Then, some of his elite guards escorted us all the way to a stadium where there were already hundreds of people. We were placed close to the back, near the exit. A symphony was gathered on the left side of the stage with a choir on the right. A single podium stood up in the middle of the stage with the hammer insignia on it. A large curtain was set up with the insignia on it as well. Banners also hung from ceiling with the same insignia.

**OOOOO**

Ash slicked back his hair as he walked through the halls of his mansion. He walked down the steps and piled into the car. He was prepared for his speech to the people to declare his new code. The car rolled down the street until it swerved to the left and soon jerked to a halt at the stage entrance to the stadium. He and eight of his guards marched in unison with his men in two columns behind him. He could hear the symphony starting to play the song to go with the speech. HE emerged in the light to see the audience cheered him on.

He shook hands, kissed babies, the normal royal type gestures. He walked onto the stage as a guard with a Granbull roamed around through the crowd. He crossed his arms with his palms facing him. The audience returned the gesture with their palms turned up. He walked up to the podium and slammed his hands down.

**OOOOO**

"So ya, thought ya, might like to go to the show." He started. The kids looked confused. May was too we had already heard this, but he continued. "To feel warmth of cold fusion, that space cadet glow? Well I got some bad news for you sunshine. Ash isn't well; he's back at the 'hotel'. They sent us along as a clean up band. Now tonight we're gonna find out where you fans really stand." He screamed out as the orchestra continued to a fermata, and then stopped.

"Are there any idiots in the audience tonight?" He questioned as the spotlight fell on Gary or at least a dream Gary. "Get him up against the wall!" He screamed as they piled him against the wall. The choir echoed him before he continued. "There's one in the spotlight, he don't look right to me. Get _him _against the wall." They again echoed him. "Who let all of this riff-raff into the room? There is another with spots. If I had my way, I'd have all of you shot." He said as fireworks went off.

Gary and Drew scattered out of the room and down the hall as the audience rose and applauded. She ducked through the crowds of people and out into the main lobby. She saw someone walk into a hallway. She entered and after the shadowy figure to see Gary, with a pistol. Ash was walking down the hallway as Gary and May hid in the shadows. Ash had clearly seen him but ignored him as we walked closer to where Gary laid in wait.

Suddenly, a large guard with a chained up Granbull stepped into the hallway before letting the Pokémon charge into the shadows. She heard the click of its nails on the concrete and closed her eyes, waiting to be torn to pieces. She heard the clicking rush past her and she reopened her eyes. The Granbull tackled Gary before chewing on his arm and pulling him to the ground. Gary screamed out in pain as blood dribbled from the wound. Ash passed on by her as the guard picked up Gary and left. After the hallway cleared, She walked out of the shadows to see more clearly the bloodstain on the ground.

She stumbled outside and managed to make her way back to town in the ever-darkening streets. Ash's imagination was getting 'dark' in more ways than one. She stopped on a dark street with several apartments like in over crowded ghettoes. A small shop was getting ready to close down for the night, Gary Oak was in there with a poor bandage closing up shop. She saw Drew ducking into an apartment not too far down the street. The windows were boarded up with no light shining through. She ran up the street to the house and knocked on the door.

Drew in the imaginary world instantly recognized her as an outsider. "What are you doing here May?" Drew asked frantically as he hid in his house. May stepped into the house as Drew locked, chain locked, then dead bolted the door. Only candles lit up the house, and they did a poor job. "Gary should be over in a few minutes." Drew said as he moved a box across the floor. Its original position was hiding a secret hatch. It soon opened with Gary stepping. "I now call to order the meeting of A.A.D.F." Drew stated as we gathered around the box.

"What is the A.A.D.F.?" May asked in curiosity.

"This is the Anti Ash Dream Force. His dreams are nightmares for most people and we stand up to fight against him." Gary answered.

"But your dream characters, how can you know this is a dream?" May asked.

"Because you're here, simply." Drew answered smartly. " Because you know this is a dream, it has become a lucid dream, which in basic terms means you know this is a dream and are capable of exploring it. We therefore are capable of helping or harming your journey. You are at level 3 lucidity currently. Level 3 means you know it is a dream and can explore, but not create things. If Ash realizes he is dreaming he could jump straight to level 4, in which he is basically the god of his dreams, capable of doing anything to stop you from waking him."

"Now, in order to stop him, you must go out onto a hill just outside of town. Once there, you will see three nooses with three people hanging from them. One is his mother that isolated him from the world, the second is his teacher, that corrupted the entire school till the day it fell, and thirdly, his very first girlfriend that tore his heart from his chest, metaphorically. Cut the three down and they will take care of the rest."

"Wha…" May said as she struggled to comprehend the lucid dreaming.

"Go! Now!" Drew said as she bolted out the door.

She ran outside and across the street before stopping to catch her breath. When she recomposed herself, she saw something running down the street. It was a group of Ash's soldiers. Had she been found out? The men ran right past her as if she didn't exist. Half split up and charged into resturaunt that Gary had returned to while the other half stormed into Drew's house.

The men stormed in and basically beat Gary and his caretakers shitless. After they were left on the ground covered in whelps and bruises, The men then smashed the mirrors, broke tables, and threw the chairs out the windows, spraying glass and splinters everywhere. They destroyed everything in the restaurant, leaving chunks of bar stools and shattered bottles everywhere.

At Drew's house, they threw the furniture at the walls and smash the windows before taking the nailed up boards and literally bashing the end with the nails into Drew, covering him in stab wounds before disappearing into the shadows shortly after. May ran into the store and saw the carnage firsthand. Gary's arms twitched as they were torn into the wrong directions.

She checked the house and saw Drew covered in holes in which blood was seeping from. _I have to stop this before I die too! _She thought as she darted out of town, heading for the hill.


	5. Chapter 5

The Epic Finale

Ash ordered his troops to gather on the main route out of the city. He ordered them to gather as a band, and then they would stop the madness. A cargo truck full of soldiers stopped in the street, soldiers piled out and built something that looked like a parade float. It had the insignia on a curtain that covered the back with banners hanging off poles. Then, men marched with drummers in the group. The bass drummer has his sticks crossed to match the hammers. The marched up in front of the float and the men gathered in a line directly in front of the float. Ash then grabbed his megaphone and stepped onto the stage.

"Waiting, to cut out the dead ones. Waiting, to weed out the weaklings." Ash screamed as they quickly marched down the road planning to scare the civilians and capture May. They continued the chant saying various lines as they May came into view. Ash lowered the megaphone, gave a cruel smirk, and returned it into place.

As they passed the city limits, the hill came into site. "Stop her now!" he screamed. As the men conjured up some of the most destructive Pokémon to fight her, he used his mind to form his band of men into giant, marching hammers. They moved in unison getting closer and closer.

**OOOOO**

May only turned back once when she heard "Stop her now!" She saw a monstrous army of Ash charging her, getting closer to destroying her. She ran down the road that had turned to gravel after the city limits. She ran between the hills with wild grass growing all over them. They looked more like an abandoned battlefield than a peaceful prairie range. She could see the hill with the nooses. She had tried to gain more power in the dream, but she couldn't.

Then she realized something horrific. _I forgot a knife or anything sharp. _There was no going back now though. She ran up to the top and pulled a Pokéball from her pocket. She thought to herself, _I hope whatever this is can cut these ropes. _She tossed it up as out exploded a Pikachu. "Pika Pikachu!" It screamed out. _What is he doing here?" _

"Pikachu! Use Iron Tail to cut through the ropes." She said as it climbed up the post with its tail glowing bright white. It jumped straight into the air before slicing at the ropes. They were surprisingly thick as Pikachu only nicked them. "Keep going!" The Pokémon were on the hill and charging. She threw out another ball, which spawned out something she had never even dreamed of seeing.

Out jumped something like Mew, but it was larger and its tail was deep purple. It stood on two legs before telepathically saying, _I am Mewtwo and am at your command. _"What the hell?" She said as it began launching the other Pokémon down off the hill. Some screamed out in fear as they slammed into the ground. _I knew Ash, and this isn't him. I have come to help set him straight. Now cut those ropes!" _Pikachu had nearly cut the lines as Ash screamed "STOOOOOP!" But the lines were thin enough they broke anyway.

As the three hit the ground, lightning flashed with no thunder. Deep black storm clouds rode on the sky, choking out light. The two Pokémon returned in a bright flash. The others faded away. The hammers turned on Ash before destroying the platform, nearly killing him. He stumbled away unscathed, but was captured by his mother and held by his ear. "You're coming with us. You grew too old for this treatment." She took him back into town and set him up for a trial.

His teacher dusted himself off before walking back into town. His first girlfriend shook my hand and told me that they'd honor her with the opening statement, and then she was free to leave. They walked together into town to meet a parade through town.

Ash's closest men were now on a parade float that had a banner with his face beaten and bruised on it. He was on the next float. It was completely undecorated. He wore a straightjacket and strapped to a two-wheeled caddie. The people pointed and laughed as he thrashed in the straps.

The parade led straight to the sports stadium that already had a stage built in it ready to go. Ash was placed along the southern wall of the stadium where he curled up into a fetal position. May ran into the back, rehearsed a prewritten opening statement and peered into the stadium. The stadium was packed full of all of the population, including Gary and Drew. They waved at her as she sheepishly waved at them.

Then she saw this podium for the judge spawn out of the skeletons of people Ash had executed. As it completed its construction, a giant Wurmple rose up from the podium. And waved around as the people cheered.

She took two large steps before appearing on stage calling out, "Good morning the Worm your Honor. The crowd will plainly show the prisoner that now stands before you, was caught red handed showing _feelings. _Showing feelings of an almost human nature. This will not do. Call the schoolmaster!" And with that, her job was done she stridden off stage and stayed to listen.

The teacher came down with strings attached to him. He was but a puppet controlled by his wife. _Like Ash had said. _Maybe this wasn't the best plan. "I always said when it came to no good deadly in your honor. If you let have my way, I'd beat him into shape. But my heart's been tamed; the bleeding heart's an artist. While I'm going with Master, let me hammer him today." He finished and formed into a hammer. Coming within inches of crushing him before the judge continued.

Ash didn't flinch, didn't move. He sat and started. "Crazy, toys in the attic. I am crazy, truly gone fishing. They must have taken my marbles away." He was then cut off by the audience/jury.

They mocked him and booed his statements as his girlfriend appeared. She was a succubus, with literal fire-red hair. "You little shit, you're in it now I hope they throw away the key. You should have talked to my more often than you did. But no! You had to go your own way, have you broken any homes up lately? Just five minutes your honor, him, me alone?" Her hair went out as she was denied.

Then, his soul stealing, wall-building mother took the stand. "They got your mother, baby let me hold you in my arms. Worm, I never wanted him to get in any trouble. Why'd he ever have to leave me? Honor, let me take him home."

He started his final statement. "Crazy, over the rainbow. I am crazy, bars in the window. There must have been a dawn there in the wall." The jury once again mocked denied this option.

The giant Wurmple morphed into some ugly giant head with chicken legs. It also wore a powdered wig like a 17th century judge would. "The evidence before the court is incontrovertible. There's no need for the jury to retire. In all my years of judging I have never heard before of someone more deserving of the full penalty of the law. We'll make him suffer your exquisite wife, mother. It fills me with the urge to DEFECATE!"

Ash interrupted, "No! Judge get away from me!"

As the creature now stood over him, glaring down at him as the stadium wall curled around him. "Since, my friend you have revealed your deepest fear. I sentence you to be exposed before you're peers." He turned away before screaming, "Tear down the walls!" The audience echoed to this effect. That was her cue to leave.

She fled for the nearest wall and dreamed up a door. It didn't appear and she grew frantic. She accidently ran straight into the wall. A door shaped portion opened up and she fell through. When it closed, sealed back into the wall, it was sealed away. She looked out into the black emptiness and tried to remember how to wake up.

Suddenly, bricks flying out in chunks followed a loud explosion mixed with Ash's screams of terror. She had to crouch into a ball to dodge flying bricks that shot out in every angle. She closed her eyes in fear of the wall falling on her.

When she opened her eyes, she was in the hospital room; Pikachu was also hooked into the machine and woke with a smile. It squealed loudly and joyfully and leapt into her arms. She cuddled with it until she felt the bed next to her move slightly. She looked over to see Ash with bloodshot, droopy eyes. "That was all real." Was all he managed to mumble out.

She gave a singsong tune and began to sing lightly to Ash in the mid-morning light. "All along there was a ringing tune of the ones who really loved you. They walk up and down outside the wall. Some hand in hand," She said as she grabbed his hands and brought him close. "And others gathered in bands."

Then everyone started entering the room after that, having heard the light singing voice. "The bleeding heart's of the trainers as they make their stand. Some stagger and crawl; after all it's not easy. Beating your heart against some madman's wall." She decided to decrescendo the last line and gave him a kiss on the cheek. As she backed away, Ash looked astonished.

"After everything you've seen and experienced you love me?" He asked nervously.

"I always loved you, that's why I listened to you in the first place, and why I was best fitted to enter your dream. That monster in the dream world wasn't the full you. It was an angry child, lashing out revenge at those that did him wrong. It wasn't the real you, which is why it was just a dream."

"I had always loved you," Ash returned. "Since the day we met, I felt a strong bond between us, and I thought, that maybe, you were the one for me. That was why I was so apt to sharing that information in privacy, didn't send you to prison when you first entered my dreams."

Ash would have continued, but May put her fingers to his lips. After lowering it, they kissed. She felt this feeling of relief and renewal. She knew everything could, and would, be okay.


End file.
